This invention relates to an imaging system having a vacuum roller for transporting a recording medium.
Existing capstan imaging systems transport recording media by pulling the media through an imaging plane. Specifically, rollers in these imaging systems pinch the leading edge of the recording media and rotate to pull the media through the imaging plane. Because the leading edge of the recording media is pinched, images cannot be formed at, or near, the edge of the media.
In general, in one aspect, the invention is directed to an imaging system. The imaging system features a guide that transports a recording medium, and a roller that receives the recording medium from the guide and pulls the recording medium through an imaging plane defined by a surface of the roller. A device forms an image onto the recording medium at the imaging plane. This aspect of the invention may also include one or more of the following.
The roller is a vacuum roller that uses a vacuum produced at the imaging plane to pull the recording medium during imaging. A control system regulates a vacuum level of the vacuum roller so that the vacuum level is higher at a leading edge of the recording medium than at other portions of the recording medium. The imaging plane remains in a substantially constant location on the surface of the vacuum roller.
The guide defines a control point through which the recording medium is transported. The imaging plane is located after the control point in a direction that the recording medium is transported for imaging. The guide includes a set of rollers that pinch the recording medium to pull the recording medium. The roller rotates at a higher rotational velocity than rollers in the set of rollers. The roller rotates at substantially the same velocity as rollers in the set of rollers.
The device forms the image onto the recording medium starting substantially at a leading edge of the recording medium. The device is an optical imaging system that includes a laser. One or more recording medium editing devices are interposed between the guide and the roller. The one or more recording medium editing devices includes one or more of the following: a punching device for altering the recording medium, a vacuum bar for holding the recording medium during transport, and a cutting device for cutting the recording medium.
The imaging system may include a recording medium storage area. The guide receives the recording medium from the recording medium storage area and transports the recording medium from the recording medium storage area to the roller. The recording medium storage area includes a recording media cassette.